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Well you ALL guessed right! We're getting a new addition to the family sometime in July. Don't feel like you've been left out of the loop too long because I just told my family a few weeks ago. It was one of those, well if I don't take a pregnancy test then I don't have to be pregnant yet. Nine months is just so long, I'm glad I chopped the time in half. Once I had chosen a clinic, I was ready to face pregnancy.

We're not sure what it is, but we're really excited!

Since I grew up with mostly sisters, I'm wishing for a girl so that Ty can have a sister to be her best friend to have late night pillow talk with as she goes through all the excitement of growing up. My sisters were there with me through it all. Kindergarten crushes, bullies, periods, first loves, marriage, new babies, the list is seriously endless and just keeps growing. Plus boys just have an added level of athleticism that translates to hard toys flying towards your head (Heber has a very good arm and excellent aim; he means well, but just not my favorite thing). Samson votes girl as well and so far he's always got what he wanted.

During Martin Luther King Day Weekend I picked up a bunch of $1 toy patterns (did you know the big fabric stores have pattern sales during all of the major holidays). I got mostly girly stuff, but I did get a couple of patterns that would work for a little boy. Then during Presidents weekend I picked up a few $1 bag patterns. I want to make the perfect diaper bag. I've also been pinning like crazy for baby baby mobiles and wall signs I could make.

This is my first pregnancy to really get to enjoy and prepare. With Ty I was in school through my
pregnancy and took an online class the semester she was born (plus I was crazy enough to make her a baby blanket that took about a month to put together). Then with Heber I was doing my student teaching up until a few months before he was born. Those months were spent with trying to get my house back in order after passing that torch to my husband during student teaching. The baby blanket I made for him took an afternoon to make.

Life is really great right now. The only tragedy is that my maternity clothes are still in Idaho and my tummy is growing and growing. I'm running out of stuff to wear. Luckily I also just picked up a couple of Megan Nielson Maternity Patterns (Simplicity is selling them, also got them for $1). I'd better start sewing up a storm or only wear baggy t-shirts and basketball shorts all the time and that might look funny on the days I substitute at the high school. Lol.

I've decided to finally get you guys in the loop of a pretty major and ongoing project.

I've been working on something very special for months now. It's going to be Ty's main present for her birthday. I'm only half done making it and by the time I'm finished it will be without a doubt my greatest creation of 2014.

I showed Ty a little picture of her present and she got so excited. "I get a pretty skirt!" That's not what this gift is, but I wouldn't rule out a skirt from on the presents she opens. The camera that took the image gave the silhouette of a skirt, but it is definitely something different.

Ty wanted a few hints while still wanting it to be a surprise. I thought I'd share some with you as well and see if you could figure it out.

It smells good.

We don't eat it (Ty asked if we could eat her present; I think she was thinking of cake when she asked this question).

It's soft.

It's peach and pink.

It's not sparkly (Ty asked this too).

It's just bigger than a fat quarter.

It is nearly as heavy as a sack of potatoes.

It's fragile, but not made of glass.

It's a four letter word. Ty's really been into spelling lately so we taught her how to spell it; the funniest part was she has no idea what she was spelling, but she is just so excited.

It's not a bird (she was sure it was a bird and could fly).

Have you figured it out? If you think you guessed it, leave a comment below with your idea. As long as we don't have anything major scheduled, I will reveal the project next post.

It was brought to our attention that we made a mistake with our sale on the Betty Skirt. We told everyone that the pattern would be on sale until Sunday the 24th (which wasn't a real date). We had originally intended the sale to go to Sunday 23rd.
But since the 24th was Monday and we moved the price up to the full price $9 Monday morning, it hurt those of you that thought the sale went through midnight 24th. I did not realize the mistake until 7 pm MST. To make up for this time, we are extending the sale through Tuesday, 25th at 10 am MST. This should allow all of you to get the sale price before it is gone!
Don't forget to check out the great tester pictures.

We are so in love with our testers! They did so much behind the scenes work for us. They ironed all of the wrinkles out of our pattern. They put in SEW much time. They gave us terrific feedback. They supported and encouraged us along the way. We can't say enough thank you's to them. We are grateful for all the work they did for us, and we just love them!

After a Sweet facelift and bunch of new sizes the Betty Skirt is Back on the Market and can be purchased here.

Hello Friends! We can't hardly believe it, but the day has come where we are taking one big
leap from Sewing bloggers to Aspiring Sewing Pattern designers. We are ecstatic,
nervous and totally worn out. We wouldn't have made it through without our fabulous testers & their great insights. We would be totally ungrateful if we didn't give a shout out to fabulous Lauren Dahl, she assisted us the hard technical questions (I am really excited for her Pattern Workshop). Just know that Lauren Dahl, is a sweetheart and a doll.

An extra shout out goes to Scary for doing the brunt of the labor. She did all of the digitizing, compiling of information, and beautiful color coordinating diagrams. In comparison to her we are hopelessly computer incompetent. Her skill meant a lot of sacrificed hours of sleep and stress. Thank you dear sister.

Now about the completely awesome pattern we are publishing. We really deliberated about
which pattern we wanted to be our first. We felt like the Betty Skirt,
was the perfect fit. It reflects all of our desires to create an e-book and the style has endless possibilities. We wanted it to have options since we don't really do the same thing twice. The plan is that we and our blogging friends will be sharing tutorials on taking the basic pattern and modifying it to get different looks so that you will have a very versatile skirt pattern.

The skirt
is inspired after the deep yokes and pleated skirts of the 1920's. This
skirt is named after our Grandmother, who was born in the 1920s. She
taught us that there is no such thing as "too dressed up". That femininity & class are still fashionable today with the Betty Skirt.

In the e-book you will find 4 different skirt patterns, that are perfect for any skill
level. The Gathered Skirt is perfect for the beginner sewer, the large
pleat is great for the advanced beginner, the placket & small knife
pleat are great for the intermediate sewer looking for professional
boutique look.

Included in the book you will find:

Instructions for getting a custom fit. By using our custom sizing chart and
your child's measurements, you will be able to have a finished product
that you are satisfied with. Included in the sizing is an option for plus sizes from sizes 3 to 10.

Full step by step tutorials for each skirt option

Colorful Illustrations that are easy to follow.

Rotary cutter friendly

With PDF pattern pieces for the seamstress without a cutter.

Your little girl is sure to love the ease of movement that she will have in this skirt. And it is hard not to love the modesty & class that this skirt keeps through any activity.

Next month I am going to be competing in the Beachy Boatneck Flip this Pattern Series. Melissa had agreed to give a complimentary pattern to March competitors but I had already purchased it several months ago. I ask her if we could give away our complimentary one away, she agreed.
You have 1 week to enter, but don't wait because you don't want to forget.

I need to get back to my sewing machine I am hoping to Flip this two ways & a sweet photo shoot this week. Check back in March to see if I get it done. I have some stiff, talented, well respected competitors.

A few weeks ago when we were working on the "project" we took a couple minutes to snap Valentine pictures of the kids.

Valentine's Day 2 years ago was when we posted our first real themed sewing project. That was what really hooked us in children's sewing. Boston was only a month old so the only picture we go of her was on the ground next to the sliding glass door & it was only 10 degrees so the few we did outside of Ty and Ryder we had to snap quick. Heber wasn't even born.

Ryder is always racing from one end of the room from another, lets just say he keeps me on my toes. But when he smiles with his goofy grin I can't help smile back.

These two have become such good friends over the last two years. Together they can have lots of fun and make big messes (messes and fun seem to go hand and hand) but when Ryder does something that she doesn't like he let it be known.

Heber is so smoochy that you can't help but WUV him back. I don't think I've shared pictures, but when he wants a kiss, he puckers up his kissers and moves right in. Such a great kiddo.

Ty is the funniest girl. Most of the time she's not trying to be funny, but her seriousness just is so comical coming from such a little girl. Everyday she brings me genuine joy.

You've heard of Retro Tuesday right? right? come on now Retro Tuesday? Its a big deal. And that is what we are doing today. This would not be a slacker post. This is Retro Tuesday people. This is not because Jo forgot to write something while her sisters are hard at work on a top secret project. Like I said, its retro tuesday. So please enjoy while in suspense.
with love,
-Jo

The Sisters

We are three sisters, who stay busy feeding, dressing and loving our families. Great women have taught us the domestic arts and we try to live and share that tradition with others, and ever improve upon it. As we navigate through life's adventures our relationship with each other gives us strength through struggles big and small. click here →